The Conservative Cat

Given how disturbed people are about guns, imagine the dangers posed by someone with heat vision and super-strength.

While the various lesser heroes are mildly controllable, the heavyweights like Superman or Thor are powerful enough to be literally above the law. If one of them decides to pursue an independent foreign policy there would be nothing we the people could do about it. In the fourth Christopher Reeve Superman movie, that's exactly what happens. Only a cinematic need for dramatic closure is able to bring the Man of Steel back into line.

Part of what makes superheroes so dangerous is their use of a secret identity. As long as no one knows his secret, Superman is able to retreat into the guise of Clark Kent where the law can't find him. As Clark, he has all his super-powers, and can continue to work secretly on his own agenda.

Perhaps because you are Americans, you tend to see a comic book hero as the lone warrior bringing justice to the barbarian hordes. To a cat, however, the existence of a superhero just means I've moved one spot further down on the food chain. It's a serious problem, because that is exactly what is happening to America right now. The rules for interaction between nations have been shattered by terrorists hiding under secret identities and using chemistry and electronics to kill people in new and terrifying ways. Like Superman, terrorists can't be stopped by fighter jets and shoulder-fired missiles. Unlike Superman, they're in the real world, and we can't leave them on the store shelves and hope they'll go away.

Even if you don't believe the war in Iraq is part of the War on Terror, it is definitely a war against terrorists and terrorist tactics. The bad guys have secret identities, and like Superman they think they're the good guys.

Now, consider that despite hopeful signs, the prevailing view is that we cannot win in Iraq. This is really bad news, because if we cannot defeat terrorism in Iraq with an army on the ground, then we have no hope of stopping it here in the United States.

It's a new kind of war, and it requires new kinds of thinking. Super-powers and secret identities are no longer harmless fun. They're a real problem that isn't going to go away.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat